Memory Button Mount

ABSTRACT

A mounting spring coil is made to grip and releasably hold a cylindrical periphery of a memory button while transmitting an ID effectively. A memory button held in a coil of the mounting spring can support objects such as tags and keys that are identified by the memory button to account for removal and replacement of the objects being secured.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application relates to and replaces provisional application No. 61/492,390 filed 2 Jun. 2011.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Memory button identification and mounting of keys and other security items

BACKGROUND

Memory buttons or Dallas ibuttons afford an inexpensive way to provide an ID associated with a security object. The security objects can be keys, cards, and other small and lightweight objects deserving security, such as small medicinal packages of liquids, pills, and capsules. The ID can be read electrically with a signal wire paired with a neutral wire for easy identification.

The difficulty comes in packaging and mounting the objects to easily read a memory button associated with each object. Prior art suggestions for mounting or packaging memory buttons and security objects have been expensive and cumbersome, resulting in a need for a simpler and less expensive mount.

SUMMARY

Embodiments described in this application meet the need for a memory button mount that is simple, compact, durable, inexpensive, and effective in providing electrically readable IDs for security objects. A good example of objects deserving security measures are keys. Memory buttons can be attached directly to the heads of keys or to tags that are permanently connected to keys to give each key or group of keys an ID. Then the button itself can mount and support the keys or the tag attached to keys so that each memory button can be read electrically and can thereby account for the removal and replacement of keys.

The mount for the memory button is preferably a coil spring having a gripping coil that can frictionally and releasably hold onto a cylindrical contact surface of a memory button. Such a coil spring can also provide electrical communication with the cylindrical periphery of the memory button. The spring grip on the memory button is strong enough to hold a tag, and one or more keys, or other objects that can be arranged in a security box. The memory button is thus made to serve two purposes: one being an electrically accessible ID associated with each security object, and the other being a mounting function accomplished in cooperation with a coil spring having a gripping coil that fits tightly around a perimeter of a memory button.

A lighter weight contact spring coil can be arranged within the gripping coil to make electrical contact with a plane face of the memory button so that presence or absence of the memory button and its associated security object can be tracked electrically. Securing the gripping spring and the contact spring to a surface of a circuit board having electrically conductive paths can be done so that a computer or microprocessor communicating with the circuit board can readily detect the presence or absence of any memory button.

Keys are not the only security object that can be accounted for with a memory button mount such as proposed in this application. Other objects that are sufficiently compact and sufficiently lightweight to be attached to memory buttons or to tags mounting memory buttons can afford the same sort of security as provided for keys.

DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partially schematic plan view of a coil spring mount showing a gripped memory button in broken lines.

FIG. 2 is a partially cut-away and partially schematic view of a coil spring holder for a memory button attached to a key tag.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the coil spring, memory button, and key tag of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the key tag of FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 5 is a partially perspective view of a key hanging on a wire loop of the key tag of FIGS. 2, 3, and 4.

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the combination of a key, key tag, gripping spring, and circuit board to show how compactly a key can be mounted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The illustrated embodiments involve a coil spring gripper that releasably holds a memory button, and possibly an asset secured to the memory button, in a configuration especially suitable for keys as the objects to be secured. The coil spring holder is illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 and the key tag is illustrated in FIGS. 2-6. Many variations are possible for mounting memory buttons directly on the heads of keys or on other objects to be secured.

Coil gripping spring 30 preferably has a conical shape as illustrated, with a base coil 31 having a larger ID than a gripping coil 32 arranged at a top of spring 30. Top coil 32 can then grip memory button 20 as illustrated in broken lines in FIG. 1. Spring 30 is preferably made of a conductive metal, such as music wire so that it electrically communicates with a cylindrical periphery 21 of memory button 20. It can be made in many configurations, including cylindrical, but the illustrated conical shape is preferred for stability.

The ends 33 of spring 30 can be cut off square, as shown in FIG. 1, or can be machined to tapers that more closely fit a plane surface. Experience has shown that this is not necessary, however. Even cut off square, as shown in FIG. 1, gripping coil 32 surrounds about ¼ or about 270 degrees of the cylindrical surface 21 of memory button 20. This affords a grip strong enough to releasably support both memory button 20 and tags or objects secured to memory button 20. The grip of spring 30 on memory button 20 is aided by the fact that memory button 20 does not need to be disposed parallel with a support surface 40 to which base coil 31 is secured. Spring 30, in the simple illustrated configuration, can be made on a fourslide machine, which is preferred for keeping the manufacturing expense low.

A support surface 40 is preferably a circuit board having established conductive paths 35 and 36. There are countless ways that electrically conductive paths can be designed on a circuit board 40 or other support to read identities from an array of memory buttons 20. They all require a single signal line, paired with a neutral line.

A contact spring 50, of much lighter gauge than gripping spring 30, is preferably mounted on circuit board 40 within base coil 31 to extend up to a region within gripping coil 32 to electrically contact a plane face surface 22 of memory button 20. Contact spring 50 thus contacts an electrode of memory button 20 while gripping spring 30 contacts another electrode of memory button 20 so that ID numbers of memory button 20 can be accessed simply.

Spring 30, in addition to providing electrical contact with a cylindrical perimeter 21 of memory button 20, also grips and releasably holds memory button 20 by the frictional grip of upper coil 32. The springiness of the wire of spring 30 allows upper coil 32 to expand slightly when memory button 20 is pressed into place within the wrap of coil 32. This wrap extends around more than half of the cylindrical surface of memory button 20, and preferably about 270 degrees, to hold memory button 20 securely. Coils of spring 30 preferably contact each other in an unflexed state so that pushing button 20 into gripping coil 32 is resisted by the underlying coils to force gripping coil 32 to expand slightly in diameter to receive button 20. This assures a secure and reliable grip on button 20 that remains releasable for removing a secured object.

For security of keys, memory button 20 is preferably secured to a tag 50 that holds a wire 55 on which a key 60 can hang. Tag 50 has slits 51 at an upper end to receive barbed ends of wire 55. A key 60, mounted on wire 55 is secured to tag 50 once the barbed ends of wire 55 are inserted into slits 51 from which the wire cannot be extracted. Memory button 20 is secured to one face of tag 50, and wire 55 is bent to extend into a space on a side of tag 50 opposite button 20.

With circuit board 40 oriented vertically and coil spring 30 oriented horizontally, tag 50 can hang vertically from the grip afforded by memory button 20 in the gripping coil 32 of spring 30. This disposes hanging wire 55 near the top of tag 50 with a loop 56 disposed on a side of tag 50 opposite button 20 where the head 61 of key 60 is disposed above a bottom end 52 of tag 50. This is shown in FIGS. 4-6. This arrangement makes compact storage for an array of keys so that many more keys and tags can be mounted in a security box than if the tags were hung with the wire end downward. This would extend the hanging wire 55 below the bottom of tag 50, with key 60 extending even farther below tag 50 where it would require much more hanging space.

Altogether, skillful variations and combinations on the illustrated embodiments can significantly reduce the expense of providing memory button identities to keys and other objects. This can make increased security affordable to many applications that deserve increased security. 

1. A memory button mount comprising: a conductive spring having a gripping coil; the gripping coil being dimensioned to grip and releasably hold a cylindrical surface of the button; the button being mounted on a tag; ends of a wire loop being connected to an upper end of the tag; and a central region of the loop being formed to extend into a space on a side of the tag opposite the button where a head of a key hanging on the loop is disposed above a bottom end of the tag.
 2. The memory button mount of claim 1 wherein the spring has a base coil that communicates electrically with a support element.
 3. The memory button mount of claim 1 wherein the coils of the spring form a conical shape.
 4. The memory button mount of claim 1 wherein coils of the spring contact each other in an unflexed state.
 5. A memory button mount comprising: a spring having a base coil and a gripping coil; the gripping coil being dimensioned to grip and releasably hold a cylindrical surface of the button; and the memory button being mounted on a tag supporting an object.
 6. The memory button mount of claim 5 wherein coils of the spring are in contact with each other.
 7. The memory button mount of claim 5 wherein the coils of the spring form a conical shape.
 8. The memory button mount of claim 5 including a button face contact spring arranged within the base coil and secured electrically to a circuit board.
 9. A memory button mount comprising: a tag bearing a memory button; a coil of spring removably holding the memory button; ends of a wire loop being connected to an upper end of a tag; and a central region of the loop being formed to extend into a space on a side of the tag opposite the button where a head of a key hanging on the loop is disposed above a bottom end of the tag.
 10. The memory button mount of claim 9 wherein coils of the spring contact each other in an unflexed state.
 11. The memory button mount of claim 9 wherein coils of the spring form a conical shape.
 12. The memory button mount of claim 9 wherein a base coil of the spring communicates electrically with a support element.
 13. A memory button mount comprising: a metal coil mounting spring having a base coil electrically secured to a circuit board; the mounting spring having coils that proceed successively from the base coil to a gripping coil that releasably grips a cylindrical contact surface of the memory button; a contact coil spring arranged within the base coil and electrically secured to the circuit board; and the contact spring engaging a plane contact surface of the memory button.
 14. The memory button of claim 13 wherein coils of the mounting spring contact each other in an unflexed state.
 15. The memory button mount of claim 13 wherein coils of the spring form a conical shape.
 16. The memory button mount of claim 13 wherein the memory button is secured to a tag that supports an object.
 17. The memory button mount of claim 16 including a wire loop connected to an upper end of the tag, the loop is bent toward a side of the tag opposite the button, and a head of a key hanging on the loop is disposed above a bottom end of the tag.
 18. A memory button mount comprising: a metal coil spring having a gripping coil arranged to grip and removably hold a cylindrical perimeter of the memory button; the coil spring having a base coil arranged in electric communication with a support element; and a center contact spring arranged on the support element within the base coil engages a face of the memory button.
 19. The memory button mount of claim 18 wherein coils of the coil spring engage each other when the spring is not flexed.
 20. The memory button mount of claim 18 wherein the gripping coil has a smaller diameter than the base coil.
 21. The memory button mount of claim 18 wherein the support element is a circuit board.
 22. The memory button mount of claim 18 wherein the memory button is secured to a tag that supports an object.
 23. The memory button mount of claim 22 including a wire loop connected to an upper end of the tag, the loop is bent toward a side of the tag opposite the button, and a head of a key hanging on the loop is disposed above a bottom end of the tag. 